Hermann Bahlsen (manufacturer, 1859)

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Hermann Bahlsen (born November 14, 1859 in Hanover ; † November 6, 1919 there ) was a German entrepreneur in the food industry as well as the inventor of the Leibniz butter biscuit and founder of the Bahlsen confectionery factory .

biography

Origin and education

Hermann Bahlsen came from a long-established family of cloth merchants and goldsmiths in Hanover. After completing a commercial apprenticeship in Geneva as a young man , he worked first in his hometown and then in London . After returning to Germany, he began to market the “ cakes ” that he had met in England on the continent.

Company formation

In 1888 he became a partner in a factory for English cakes and biscuits in Hanover. A year later he founded his own company on Friesenstrasse, the "Hannoversche Cakesfabrik H. Bahlsen". The number of employees rose within a few years from 10 to over 100 and by the beginning of the First World War to around 1700. In 1893, Bahlsen had the idea for his buttercakes, which, unlike his competitors, he did not sell loose but packed in bags. to advertise with a Leibniz quote, which increased sales within a very short time.

Recipe for success

Bahlsen biscuit factory from 1911 in Hanover

The packaging patented in 1903, which guaranteed a long shelf life, also contributed to the success of Bahlsen products. The company logo designed around the turn of the century , which is modeled on an Egyptian hieroglyph : The Egyptian word djed ( simplified from Bahlsen to TET ) means “durability”, “eternity” or “everlasting”. The well-traveled museum director Friedrich Tewes gave him the idea of ​​the hieroglyph . Previously, Bahlsen had used a different logo for its cookies, showing a jumping horse. At the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago , Tet biscuits won a gold medal in 1893. In addition to the hieroglyph, another feature of the biscuits to this day are the 52 teeth, the 15 punched points on the front and the typical Leibniz lettering. Bahlsen repeatedly commissioned renowned artists with designs, such as Emanuel Josef Margold from the Wiener Werkstätte . Even Kurt Schwitters and Lotte Pritzel worked on the image of the Leibniz biscuit.

Bahlsen's production methods were also innovative; As the first manufacturer in Europe, he started assembly line production in 1905 .

In 1911 or 1912, the Germanization of the English word “cakes” to “Keks”, for which Bahlsen had long fought, found its way into the Duden .

Similar to how Heinz Appel replaced the term “delicatessen” with his word creation “delicatessen” in the first half of the 20th century, it was the close connection between creativity and art that made the branded products of the Hanoverian family businesses “something special”. Klaus Wiborg, editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, wrote : "The style that suggests the creative investment and the intellectual entrepreneurial personality behind everyday goods has proven to be the most effective sales promotion in the long run ."

social commitment

The entrepreneur Bahlsen showed a high level of social commitment towards his employees. In 1912 he set up a company health insurance fund and made medical, sick and care staff available. He also donated loyalty rewards. In the years 1916 and 1917 Bahlsen made by the funded artists he Bernhard Hoetger plans for the planned city of TET City in Hanover develop that were not realized. It was to become both a place of residence and a place of work for the employees of the Bahlsen works; the intended name TET-Stadt referred to the trademark that Bahlsen products have been given to this day.

Around 1918, Bahlsen and the architect Carl Arend planned the large-scale project Weißer Berg family pool in Mardorf ; "Perhaps one reason for the lack of implementation is the death of Bahlsen in 1919". The site was taken over by Hannöverschen Bank (since 1922 Deutsche Bank ) in 1921 .

Bahlsen family grave in Hanover, Hermann Bahlsen grave slab on the left as an enlarged detail

After the death of the founder Hermann Bahlsen, his sons Werner Bahlsen , Klaus Bahlsen and Hans Bahlsen took over the management of the company. He was buried in a family grave in the New St. Nikolai Cemetery in Hanover in the Nordstadt district.

literature

Web links

Commons : Hermann Bahlsen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Peter Struck : Appel. In: Hanover in 3 days. An entertaining cultural guide. Schlütersche, Hannover 2008, ISBN 978-3-89993-659-9 , pp. 33, 55, 59; here: p. 55; online through google books
  2. ↑ Horst Kohlmann, Friedrich Dankenbring (chairman): A - Chronicle for Mardorf am Steinhuder Meer. (from there via subsection A7 in the download of the PDF document A7 Die Zeit 1918 - 1932 ), last accessed on December 9, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Bahlsen, Hermann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur in the food industry
DATE OF BIRTH November 14, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH Hanover
DATE OF DEATH November 6, 1919
Place of death Hanover